Premier League Notebook: Manchester is Blue as City close the gap

Week 11 is in the bag, and it was a massive momentum shifter for Manchester City. Not only did they tear Manchester United apart in the Derby, they also closed the gap at the top of the table. As we head into an international break, here are the big talking points in the Premier League.

A disastrous derby for Manchester United

Manchester United had just four touches in Manchester City’s box in Saturday’s Derby. FOUR! That’s the lowest since the stat started being measured in 2008. It was a damning indictment of just how in control Manchester City were, and although the scoreline only read 2-0, it was a case of how many City wanted.

Pep Guardiola’s men simply toyed with the cross-city rivals as they dominated Old Trafford, heaping even more pressure on Red Devils’ coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The defeat now means Man United have won just one of their last six league games, and it doesn’t get any easier with games against Chelsea and Arsenal coming up after an away trip to Watford.

Manchester United are now five points off the top four in the race for a Champions League spot but are still -125 in the betting as Solskjaer tries to save their season.

Manchester City close the gap to three

Manchester City’s convincing win over United set them up for a perfect weekend as their main title rivals dropped points. For a second week in a row, Liverpool lost ground on the others as they lost a thriller 3-2 to West Ham – more on them in a moment.

While Chelsea were shocked by 18th placed Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Kai Havertz gave Chelsea the lead just after half an hour and it seemed like it was set to be a straightforward win for the home side. That was until 10 minutes from time when substitute Matej Vydra grabbed a late equalizer completely against the run of play. Chelsea had 70% of the ball and won the shot count 14-4, but the only stat that really matters was the 1-1 score, and two dropped points for Thomas Tuchel.

It means Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table is down to three over Manchester City and West Ham, with Liverpool a further point back in fourth.

David Moyes is a very happy Hammer

In an alternative universe David Moyes would be getting tipped for the Manchester United job, such is his success with West Ham. Unfortunately, he’s already had a disaster in the Old Trafford hot seat, but that shouldn’t take anything away from his impact in West London.

Sunday’s 3-2 win over Liverpool means West Ham have now won four on the spin, including huge wins over Tottenham and Everton as well. No team has better form than West Ham over the last six games, and only Liverpool and Chelsea have managed more goals than them this season.

David Moyes, take a bow.

Conte has work to do at Tottenham

For the second league game in a row, Tottenham Hotspur failed to register a shot on target as they drew 0-0 with Everton at Goodison Park. It’s now been nearly four hours of Premier League football since Spurs last had a shot on target, and new manager Antonio Conte has work to do if he is to get them back on track.

Harry Kane looks hopelessly out of form, there’s a complete lack of creativity coming from midfield, and now Norwich are the only top flight side to have scored fewer goals than them.

Tottenham’s next four games are all against bottom seven sides, so fans will hope that a solid run of form and maximum points can lift them back into the top four conversation.

Arsenal are Gunner be pleased with this turnaround

At the end of August after three games, Arsenal were the laughing stock of the Premier League. Rock bottom of the table they’d lost all three games, conceded nine goals, and scored zero. Mikel Arteta’s job was on the line, and everything was bleak around the Emirates Stadium.

Since then, however they’ve won six and drawn two of the next eight league games and are now, somehow, just six points off the top of the table in fifth. Sunday’s hard fought 1-0 win over Watford kept the Gunners' momentum going as they now face a clash with Liverpool at Anfield after the international break.

They’re big underdogs but given their recent form could be a value play.